Posted
by
timothyon Sunday June 03, 2012 @11:35PM
from the spellchecker-hates-it dept.

chrb writes "Nintendo has announced that its new Wii U console will feature a social network called the Miiverse in which users can video chat, see what others are playing, share game content and swap tips." And with a nod to Zawinski's Law, "The redesigned Wii U GamePad features dual sticks, a touch screen that supports finger and stylus interaction, motion and gyroscope sensors, and the ability to act as a TV remote. The Wii U GamePad has its own dedicated Web browser and can share images and video to a TV so that everyone can enjoy the shared content."

The Wii was all family friendly and then late horrific rated M games like House of the Head Overkill where every third word was a swear word. That shocked everyone but it was to attract hardcore gamers. Who are they trying to attract with video chat? People banned from chat roulette? I'm sure the creators of that were thinking "oh boy, people will connect and learn about other cultures and there might be a weirdo or two but otherwise it'll basically be 99% Starbucks customers. WRONG! Freaks and pervs

Xbox also has video chatting... no crazy baseless lawsuits about that yet.

The Wii only allowed people to add friends if both people, on both sides, did so. There were no friend requests. I assume Wii U will either do that for everyone, or will have some similar mode of operation for child accounts. (the Xbox 360 and PS3 both block video and voice comm for child accounts, IIRC)

With the amount of precautions they took (I'd say it was too much) with the Friend-codes having to be entered on previous generations of their console, only to be able to play a coop-game, I deem it unlikely that this chatting will be fully open.
So I don't think that the comparison with the unfiltered Chatroulette is making sense.

Facebook has 500 million users and approximately half of those play games. The Wii U has a number of features, including video chat, that they're hoping will attract those social network gamers to the platform.

You have to remember, Nintendo isn't courting the hardcore gaming market. The Wii was a huge success among casual gamers and outsold every other available console. Naturally they're going to try to repeat and expand on that success.

Freaks and pervs aren't outside in public being social, they're inside on their PC and Wii

sure, just email your friend your 15 digit friend code and then if you want to play a game together simply email your 15 digit game code! you can even share a picture or a comment by exchanging a simple 15 digit post code! the future is now!

All of the Nintendo haters need to calm down. I started playing Nintendo at the age of 6 or 7. When I was that age we WERE Nintendos customers. Most importantly we could actually play the games Nintendo was putting out. Now that I'm a father, and stick my son in front of any console on the market that's not a Nintendo and expect them to play a game? It's impossible. In fact, anyone that isn't a 16-35yr old male that's played video games for most of their life is going to have trouble grasping most games these days. Nintendo realized that and hence the WII. My kids can play it. My mom can play it. There's nothing wrong with that. This is what Nintendo always was. They realized that if they kept chasing the other console companies the industry would eventually paint itself into a corner. Is it for the hardcore gamer that plays nothing but FPS all day? No... but that's ok. There's room for what they've done... a lot of room.

im 27 years old as of sunday, And I HATE first person shooters, I mush prefer loading up an emulatator and playing some NES SGA SNES glory games over 95% of the stuff put out on all the consoles/PC (diable 3, other than HAVING to be online to play a single player game..... is pretty awesome

Nintendo: Kiddie games, outdated tech, milk their franchises to death (unlike the franchises of all the other companies which are handled _totally_ responsibly.)
Sony: Overpriced, installs rootkits and disables components of their systems after you've already bought them, gives your credit card number away to hackers.
Microsoft: The original borg, convicted monopolist and patent troll, Windows sucks and the XBox keeps suffering hardware failures.
Apple: The new borg, walled garden and patent troll, designed for hipsters.
Linux: The one true system, but ported games are frequently buggy and often just don't work at all. (This is of course all the fault of the people who made the games.)

I guess as a responsible geek i'm not supposed to be playing any games at all?

Er, the machine isn't even out yet. And it probably won't come with a bowling game.

Did you, perhaps, mean the Wii? If so, you're sadly mistaken. There aren't _as many_ Wii titles I consider Fantastic Games as some other platforms, but there are still quite a few really damned good games.

Some people apparently only want a system if it has HD graphics. Because, you know, all that crapware and those old-school emulated games look so much better in HD. And BRB, no-scoping some noobs that said they slept with my mother.

Please. I want fun games. How about these:

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was amazing. The sound of arrows going from your controller to the screen... genius.

Yes, it's 2012. You could make that argument in 2005 when it was released. Watching the Wii on a HDTV now is *just painful.* And millions of people who play online via PSN or Live are just worthless because "real men play single player." You do know there are normal people who do like to play online you know.

As for the fun. I'm tired of/. writing that crap. There are tons of fun games on the other consoles as well. Shadow complex for 360. Fun as hell, just like Metroid was. Dead Space: the fun is in how sc

Just plugging it into a modern TV can be difficult. The stock composite cables produce a pathetic image with distortion all over the place [google.com]. You need component to even do 480p. Not having a HDMI port is terrible, I bought a more expensive AV receiver with component inputs specifically to accommodate my Wii.

Low resolution in a cartoon-y Mario game is fine. Lack of connectivity isn't.

Tho as a side note, you have to agree that, as I'm sure u know already, once you play a game at max settings at native 1080p resolution (or higher), it's *really* tough to go back, regardless of the game.

Perfect example is even let's compare it to Mario directly: play trine 2 on the pc at max settings and 1080p, and then go to the ps3. It hurts. Or even psychonauts, a cartoony game, that while is ancient, looks so much better because at 1080p resolution it's c

It really isnt though, I just finally got around to hacking my OG xbox and I have been spending more time playing games from around 85 to 95 than anything new, Last new game I bought was forza on 360 dialo 3 on PC, but I have been using more free time to play mario bro 3 and sonic the hedgehog and I enjoy it just as much now as anything new

Agree with the coward: I have Wii and PS3 hooked up to a 42 inch HDTV. It may help that it's plasma instead of LCD, but we have no problems - and while I'm old school, my kids aren't - and they like it just fine.

Part of the problem is that Nintendo uses a proprietary connector that no one else uses. Remember the old saw about Monster cables being overpriced? It's not true on the Wii. Monster's component cable for the Wii was cheaper than Nintendo's.

You mean you haven't already figured out the Wii's pinouts and built your own set of component cables?

In the real world, having a connector manufactured to fit the connector costs money.

What the hell kinda geek/nerd are you?

As CronoCloud has repeatedly explained to me on this board, geeks alone do not a market make. Video game consoles are aimed at the mass market, not geeks who have probably already set up a PC as a monitor anyway.

I dont think anyone made an argument that games cant have both, Simply that a game with great grafix can suck balls, just as games without good grafix can be amazing. a link to the past? by todays standards the grafix suck. but the game is still just as good as it was 20 years ago. And lets not also forget the fact that at release PS3 was 600 bucks while the wii could be had for 250. the gap has shrunk but "good enough grafix" and good games for a reasonable price, how can ya complain?

Regarding HDTV, that's interesting and possibly true. I still have an older CRT HDTV, and it looks wonderful on there. CRTs looked good at different resolutions, which is something LCD panels just don't do well. I could see that argument. It's disappointing that such an expensive HD panel would upscale incoming SD content so poorly.

Geometry Wars was one of the first killer apps for the XBOX. The Wii version is my favorite version - it's a real must-experience, IMO.

There is only one reason that applies more to the 360 and PS3 and not the wii. And that is because the wii wouldn't let you talk to the people you were playing with online. It has nothing to do with anything other than nintendo didn't put that feature on the wii.

But they seem to have included it on the wii U, so you nintendo fans will also get to experience preteens with high voices excitedly jabbering on voice chat about how they slept with your mother.

Now that you mention that, the only time I've run into anyone on the nintendo DS chat channel that I didn't already know (in an attempt to set up a multiplayer game)... it was two little kids who just scrawled misspelled curses.

Old school games do look much better in high resolution graphics with proper post processing. I recently played Persona 4 on a PS2 and PCSX2 emulator side by side when demonstrating this to a friend who was of the same opinion as you. The difference was astounding even though the original material is exactly the same and just rendered in (much) higher resolution with a couple of post-filters applied to it on the emulator. The game simply looked much prettier, which did wonders to enjoyment of the title wher

Er.... I have other things to do than continue to list games? There are quite a few other system-exclusive titles that were good. And it would be easy to make a list for any system, but this one was in scope at the moment.

Sorry to disappoint. Carry on... you might want to change your sig though, it doesn't match the things you post.

You've got a point, it would make a good game for the under-13 audience. I guess I was expecting it to be more of a challenging game that adults could enjoy too, since I have always enjoyed Kirby games.

But in the next mario, he has a puppy! you're not a brainwashed throwback-pretentious hipster if that gimmick isn't enough to make you beg to hear ole Mario say "lets-a-go" one more time!!!

Let me go grab my oversized glasses (so the SD looks its best), my PBR so I can call it a party, and my trst fund so I have plenty of time to spend reminiscing, contemplating, and focusing on masquerading as a mature productive adult.

Yes they make sequels. But none have even come CLOSE, even CoD, to milking it more than Nintendo. Even your FF example: they've had like 12-15 in the span of 20 years. That's 1-2 years in Nintendo time.

Mario was in 12 games starring him in 21 years. Final fantasy did 14 over 23 years. Without getting into the days difference final fantasy is releasing more often than Mario has. Zelda and metroid are far slower. Other have released in the single digits over the same time period. Admittingly Halo is behind the cure averaging only 8-9 in that same period at the current pace. The only issue for Nintendo has been third party support and always has been because they take their image and quality fairly ser

Mario was in 12 games starring him in 21 years. Final fantasy did 14 over 23 years.

It's even murkier than that. Look at Super Mario Brothers, then 2, then 3, then Super Mario World, then Super Mario 64, then Super Mario Sunshine, then Super Mario Galaxy. You don't play *any* of those games the same way. I don't mean that they have expanded levels or extra features, I mean the skills you learn from 2 don't directly apply to 3. Compare this to Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City, and San Andreas. Sure, there are additions and improvements along the way, but you could be driving around Liberty City then suddenly materialize in Vice City and there wouldn't even be a hiccup in the gameplay.

I realize some of you are tired of hearing the name "Mario". I get it, no prob. But if you're going to rake anybody over the coals over video game sequelitis, is it really going to be Nintendo [crackedcdn.com]? There's a difference between having a game that has "Mario" in the title and creating a sequel. Super Mario Galaxy II is a sequel to Super Mario Galaxy. Super Mario Galaxy is in the same franchise as Super Mario Sunshine. See how Galaxy isn't called Super Mario Bros. 7?

Once you're counting Yoshi's Story and Donkey Kong Country on the Mario side, you have to count the SaGa series (aka Final Fantasy Legend), the Mana series (aka Final Fantasy Adventure), the Tactics series, the Crystal Chronicles series, and the Chocobo games on the FF side.

The OP was being pretty facetious, but mentioned specific titles (Mario Kart, not Mario in general.) It's pretty unfair to bitch about them producing the same game over and over when it's really just the character appearing over and over.

Quality? Nintendo USED to be about quality back in the NES days. That was 20 years ago. 75% of Wii games since it's inception have been shovelware.

Looking at the article the Wii U controller is supposed to be a revamped version of the old NES game-pad which IMHO was a great way of crippling your hands and that controller does not look all that comfortable to hold even for adult hands. The Wii U will support all the other Wii peripherals though and this in itself is good since I don't think many adults would be happy with their kid handling a controller that won't be cheap (not confirmed) or even robust (not confirmed).

Hah I remember the ol' NES gamepad. You're right, I forgot how uncomfortable it was. And even to press the buttons it took effort and it made a creaking sound. But I remember it fondly. But I sure as hell wouldn't wanna use one now!;-)

I think the epitome of a great non-analog controller was the SNES controller. Oh my god if I could use that in Super Street Fighter IV Arcade today, I'd wreck. As of now I'm freakin terrible.

I think the epitome of a great non-analog controller was the SNES controller.

The first time I saw the SNES controller I thought "OMG I am going to have really sore hands using that". I was actually pleasantly surprised to find that the controller was actually quite comfortable and if you look down on most controllers today (except for the Wii remote and the Move) you can still see a similar layout to the SNES controller.

Another controller I did not like was for the N64's although my initial impression was that it looked comfortable however most games I played on it forced me to ha

I think the Wii is a hit with young families. Trouble is those kids are getting older now so Nintendo needs to capture newer parents with young children. I don't know if they realize that parents with young children don't necessarily want a social networking aspect to the game system. I enjoy playing the Wii casually but it has always seemed cartoonish and geared towards family fun. Phone games don't fill the gap for a family with a 6 year old.

You know what is scary? I think competition for that 6 year old is the iPad. You're right, you'd think a family wouldn't want social for their kids. But I can't tell you how many little kids have their parents buy them iPads. It's scary. And not even the cheapest one. We're talking they have to have the 64 GB 3G one that's like what, $1000?

Now, I think it's more being a bad parent or a case of being lazy and just caving to a whiny kid, but that's another story.

No, it is just people getting old. When I got Nexus one, I handed my MyTouch down to my 6 year. The sales people at T-Mobile were a bit shocked that a 6 year old had a smartphone. The HTC rep was in the store, and was fascinated at our existence. It was a completely new concept to him that a 6 year old would have one of their phones.

The think was, the phone, even if purchased that day brand new, had a lower dollar value than a Nintendo DS with a dozen games. Yet no one would bat an eye over a 6 year old having that. $1000 is an expensive gift for a 6 year old, but for families that can afford it, it isn't out of line for what would be spent if there was no iPad.

I've been thinking about this for my kids when they get a bit older. 6 may be a bit young, but once they are about 8, a tablet is a much better idea than the other hand held consoles. I'd rather pay $300 for a decent tablet, and then $1-$10 for games than spend $150 on a handheld console where I'd have to spend $30-$50 on games. After you buy 3-4 games, the tablet ends up cheaper, plus, they are great for doing so many other things, like watching movies, browsing the internet, and doing actual creation.

I am not sure I grasp what you are saying, You dont NEED to have a voice data contract with an ipad or any other tablet, Its available, but not mandatory. What does the ipod touch and android have anything to do with the comment???

You dont NEED to have a voice data contract with an ipad or any other tablet, Its available, but not mandatory. What does the ipod touch and android have anything to do with the comment???

What the iPod touch has to do with the comment depends on whether you think iPod touch is more like a phone or more like a tablet. I was replying to Belial6's comment, which discussed phones. Here in the United States, smartphones are typically sold bundled with a 24-month contract, and it is considered highly unusual to buy one and use it only on Wi-Fi.

Tablet phone it doesn't matter. My comment had nothing to do with Android vs. iOS. It was pointing out that people already spend the cost of a tablet/phone for electronic toys for their kids. A phone just happens to be useful as well as fun.

Personally I think it is rather isolating for a 6 year old to only play their games on an iPad. I think the Wii encourages the kind of family engagement that board games used to. Playing network games with each other over iPad's isn't the same as 4 family members laughing and screaming as their mario characters bounce off of each other. And while there are games on any console that a family might be able to play together the Wii seems to stand out for that particular purpose.

The Wii U will be as relevant as the Wii, which was as Relevant as the Game Cube, and the N64 before it. It won't be as relevant as the SNES and NES. Nintendo has been playing this game for a while now and every time people like you come out and claim they are dead and no longer relevant. The 360 and PS3 haven't sold as many units and Nintendo was able to make actual profit off of their system right at launch.

It's questionable if MS and Sony have really come out ahead of this or not given the systems cost. The only real reason why MS and Sony aren't releasing a new system this year is that they still haven't made up for all the losses they incurred from the last round.

If Nintendo ever fixes its issue with 3rd party developers then Sony and MS will have to worry since that is the only thing making their system relevant enough to stay in the market. Their 1st party development is lack luster and Nintendo can practically print money without the aid of 3rd parties.

They have only had ONE year with an operational loss. Look at what's happened in Japan in the last year tsunami/nuclear disaster, Every major industry in Japan has been in the red.

To add to your flaimbait. You have to be retarded and ignorant of the history to make the claim that Nintendo will be irrelevant. They've ether been irrelevant for the last 20 year or they haven't been and probably won't be.

How you got modded to 5 is beyond me. I know, it's because you're repeating the same incorrect meme's that are posted in droves to slashdot.

Wow, karma envy.

Now, on to the show. You're so full of BS it isn't funny. Let's now debunk your again tired repeated meme armchair financial analysis.

Yes, but yours very much funny, and yes I will hit you with the hard numbers to show that stiff confidence of yours its place.

Did you miss the part where the xbox and ps3 are still selling strong and are maybe what like 10 million behind.

10 Million? Where do you get your numbers? That's crazy talk. Here is the actual number as of May.

Wii 95.8 Million

360 66.9 Million

ps3 64.7 Million

I could be wrong but isn't 95.8 Million - 66.9 Million = 28.9 Million. And that's the 360 ignoring the RROD out of warranty replacements. I'd bet once those are accounted for the PS3 is even ahead of the XBox. As for the P

I used to read reuters, bloomberg, various analyst periodicals, financial statements as part of my living. You can pull the wool over other armchair analysts on/., but not me.

You make assumptions that based that in 2012 sales dropped off. Did you forget the part where we're just halfway of 2012? So maybe they're off by a million or two from the prior year if you extrapolate for the rest of the year. Not bad for c

Ohh I'm not irked at all. I find your analysis to be funny, and the fact that you couldn't spot the clear error in my number proves you know nothing of the industry what so ever, or are one of those people who creates pie charts that add up to over 100%. At least try looking up the number. Ok here you go try this [vgchartz.com]. If you actually can read the analysis you'll see that every last system is down in their 2012 to 2011 unit sales. The XBox is only "up" when you compare it to 2010 sales which just means that

ok, I need to tear into this because as much as you claim BS on the parent post, I claim on yours

the wii has been dead for 2 years now, By what metric? I have bought more games for the wii in the past 2 years than I have since release combine, and I know of many others who are the same. Besides that the wii was sold at a profit from day one, while the others were sold at a loss, somewhat large I might add. Just because sales are down in the past 2 years, that has the potential to say a few different thing

wouldnt the same be true for MS (360) and sony (ps) for that statement to be accurate?

the landscape is changing, no question about it, but right now at this point in time, I dont see consoles declining. Sure phone games, and even PC games seem to be making a comeback, but the console still reins as the "go to" while phone games , at this point in time, are filler.

One of the reasons the Wii sold was a gimmick. People were interested in the "wave the stick" around method of control. They bought it because it seemed cool, and wasn't too expensive. However that was a gimmick over all. Notice there's been no massive rush to a similar system the world over. That is because it really isn't that great. For a few games you find it is a superior method for control, but for the more part it is just different. Instead of pressing a button to do X, you make a certain motion. Ok,

I must be reading a comment from about four years ago. Since the launch of the Wii, Sony has launched the Move and MS has launched the kinect. Regardless of them being innovations or evolutions or something totally new, they exist as a direct result of the success of the Wii and the Wii remote.

And both had nothing but gimmick games released for them. Essentially dance titles and other similar party games count for vast majority of stuff that is actually playable with these motion control schemes.

Hell, nowadays most of the "kinect compatible" games mean that you have some very limited voice command system that is generally inferior to controller-based one (example: ME3).

Not to even get into the whole "plays best with mouse and keyboard anyway" issue.

Oh wait, no, I mean the other thing, they totally HAVEN'T changed gaming. Only a few titles even use them, even less use them in any sort of real fashion, and those that do use them in a real fashion are often gimmick type games.

Ya, MS and Sony hopped on the bandwagon because the Wii was doing well (though for Kinect that's arguable, they started developing it in 2005). However neither have made a splash gaming wise. By and large games continue to be controller based as they've always been.

They did release the Eyetoy you know, during the PS2 days...wandless motion control. Never did the wand thing, in part because they thought the PS2 and the Eyetoy weren't quite up to snuff for what they really wanted to do...so they waited.

Amazingly enough, the Eyetoy is the best selling PS2 Accessory. Sold like hotcakes in Europe...USA...not so much.

Maybe gimmicks are all Nintendo has ever had... that, and an uncanny ability to exploit them.

When the NES hit the market retailers were suspicious of video games because they were hard to make money on. While gamers were beyond excited about the NES coming out (I know I was and I was little) they still needed a gimmick to get it into mainstream stores. This was so long ago the robot craze was still sweeping America, so they created R.O.B. and a couple shitty games to go with him so they could sell it as a "

Metroid Prime: Collector's Trilogy --- amazing repacking of 3 classic games w/ new motion controls which add quite a bit of depth to the game

What's amazing is that anyone thinks that this is good, because the play control is abysmal. I actually have an easier time getting around the world of Lost Planet (and I just beat the sequel, too. not on hard yet, though. it's capcom, so that figures.)

Goldeneye --- Amazing remake which is even better for having motion controls and Wii Zapper support

Mouse and keyboard is what would make Goldeneye worthwhile. In a browser, preferably, with others, because without multiplayer it is meh. And frankly, it was only amazing because of the lack of concurrent competent company on consoles.

What's amazing is that anyone thinks that this is good, because the play control is abysmal.

Ha! It was after 5 minutes with Metroid Prime: Corruption that I vowed never, ever to play another console FPS with a gamepad again. Before, that was something I just had to put up with because hey, console gaming. It's not as great as mouse/keyboard mostly because turning is still slow but it's a near match for rapidly switching targets on screen, which puts it way beyond any gamepad BS.

Keyboard/mouse is the best. But for console FPS input, the wiimote is awesome.

Ha! It was after 5 minutes with Metroid Prime: Corruption that I vowed never, ever to play another console FPS with a gamepad again.

Have you tried Lost Planet? The replay value is not that good, so you must get it cheap or rent it, but both it and the sequel (the original may actually be better in terms of gameplay) are actually something of a joy to experience in terms of play control. It is sometimes slightly frustrating until you get the hang of it and then it's just fun. You can tap a button to rotate 90 degrees, it's a third person shooter anyway, and you can actually get the reticle on the target with only reasonable difficulty.

Keyboard/mouse is the best. But for console FPS input, the wiimote is awesome.

I thought the same thing about the iPad. Never overestimate the average consumer's taste.

I think the thing we should not overestimate is the intelligence of the Slashdot technoratii, who are miffed there is some corner of technology they cannot lord over others, and that average people can actually make significant use of computing devices. How unfair!

I don't see why people continue to think that a device that is physically in hand can have any lasting restrictions whatsoever for the technically inclined. So it is, so shall it always be. That's why complaints that any given device is "locked down" is so laughable.

The point is simply that we shouldnt HAVE to jump through hoops to do thats that were trivial years ago. Sure you and I can do it, but we shouldnt HAVE to tinker with something to gain a function that was available as a standard feature 5,10 hell even 15 years ago. No apple isnt the only one to blame, but they are the worst when it comes to it

The point is simply that we shouldnt HAVE to jump through hoops to do thats that were trivial years ago

You don't have to. You can buy some other device where it is still trivial to do whatever.

But for the good of the VAST majority of the population who does not want or need this ability, there should be an option for them to be able to buy devices where installing stuff like this is tricky, so they cannot mess it up. It is the ONLY way for computing to advance beyond adolescence and truly become prevalent

I admit that I mistyped. I meant to say "ported to newer Nintendo platforms", as I tried to imply with my mention of a poor "job of locking down [...] the DS and Wii". I'm aware that Linux has been ported to DS and Wii, just not to DSi or 3DS without using the DS backward-compatibility mode.

Already had Linux on my 3DS for roughly three months.

Is it the version that runs in DS backward-compatibility mode using a 3DS compatible DS flash card? If so, it can see only the 4 MB of RAM available to DS programs.